Lester B. Funge announced plans in 1904 for the Grande Vaudeville Theatre, an 800-seat playhouse between the Reed Hotel and the St. Paul Lodging House. In 1906, a three-story building with a hall on the top floor occupied the site. On 20 November 1907, the 197-seat New Electric Theatre opened in a remodeled house in the same location. The Electric was the first theater operated by the Alhambra Theatre Company, which would grow to at least eight theaters in three states within seven years.